Saturday, December 13, 2008

"Ride Of Their Lives" Does Re-Air At 4PM On Sunday (CMT Network)

When Kevin Costner appeared at the Sprint Cup Banquet, there was some information being given out about about a future film project to which he would lend his voice.

Like many other media members, I assumed it was a project for 2009. As it turns out, The Ride of Their Lives program is airing Saturday, December 13th at 9PM ET on CMT.

One quick check of the NASCAR.com front page reveals absolutely nothing about this project or the fact it is on CMT tonight. Even clicking to the NASCAR.com News Center will not help. The Turner folks who run NASCAR.com are not very kind to programs appearing on other TV networks. It would seem this is the case with CMT.

Here is the CMT summary of the program:

The history and heroes of NASCAR are brought to life through the men and women who lived the dream. The Ride of Their Lives, narrated by Kevin Costner, is a story of family bonds and personal struggle, rebellion and teamwork. These are the threads that weave through the sport's first 60 years and a half century of Daytona 500 races. From the moonshine runners of the postwar years to the superstars of the 21st century, The Ride of Their Lives celebrates a sport that grew from humble Southern roots to become a national spectacle.

This project is being co-produced by The NASCAR Media Group and CMT Films. DALE was the original project that sparked this follow-up. "On the heels of our success with DALE, which was the largest selling sports title ever and was nominated for 2 Emmys, we are pleased to be working again with CMT and with a talent of the stature of Kevin Costner," says Jay Abraham, COO, NASCAR Media Group. "This new film will give fans an exciting inside view of the history and evolution of the sport from the unique perspective of some of the families that made the sport."

So, it looks like fans lucky enough to catch this program will have some final NASCAR-themed TV programming before Christmas. This two hour program has the original airing from 9 to 11PM Saturday, but also re-airs on Sunday from 4 to 6PM Eastern Time.

Update: TDP will NOT have a review of the program. Comcast, my cable provider, apparently has placed CMT on a tier to which I do not subscribe. This is certainly a new development for me as I have enjoyed CMT as a basic cable service for years.

So, it will be up to the NASCAR fans and TV viewers to add your review and comments about this program over the weekend.

To add your comment, just click on the COMMENTS button below and follow the easy instructions. The rules for posting are located on the right side of the main page. Thanks again for taking the time to stop by.

If I did not love the SPEED trucks so much and WT and the SPEED shows, I would ditch Digital in a minute. Course with cutbacks as they are, might do that down the road anyway since NASCAR refuses to acknowledges the REAL ISSUE of NASCAR and the fans.

P.S> FRANKLY I do not know why SPEED can NOT be n basic EVERYWHERE with the rubbish on that station 90 per cent of the time???

JD you need a friend with CMT and a DVR/VCR. It was worth the watching. I'm sure you'll be able to buy it at some point but what a bummer. I have no clue what tier CMT is on for me since I had to go far up the digital tier just to get ESPNClassic for the NW races I have CMT.

I'll be tuning in to watch this show. And yes, will be commenting later.

CMT is on my basic tier and SPEED is on the upper tier. How come there is no ryhme or reason to this among the cable providers? Is it demographics? JD, do you know? Also, is there some kind of TV/cable law that prevents cross promotion?

Just finished watching the show. If you don't get CMT and you love racing, go to a neighbor's house or get them to tape it for you....it was amazing. Seeing a quality program like this really makes me wonderwhy Nascar doesn't do more of this type of production. It covered the history with respect, an obvious love of racing, and focused on the personalities of the drivers. Perhaps the highlight, as the covered the progression of racing thru the years, and the family connections, was showing Brian France and the third France to run the family business...but managed to not have any audio of him blathering. Well worth the time to watch!

It was a good show except I felt they dwelt too much with the deaths of the drivers whether it was by crashes or other reasons. I also enjoyed the interaction between the Petty's. Well done program I'm glad you had the update on the show I never would have seen it. I'm sorry more folks don't have CMT.

I thought it was a very interesting show. It contained a lot of stories and history coming from the "horse's mouth", which I love. Basically it was supporting the family traditions in the sport, starting with the France family, the Petty's, the Allison's and the Earnhardts. And then mixed in the "Hollywood style" of Tim Richmond and Jeff Gordon, it was a good balance for the new and old NASCAR fans. I enjoyed it.I'm sorry for the people that don't get CMT, they(CMT) did a good job. If you're a NASCAR fan, it's one of those shows you'd watch over and over again. I'll probably watch again tonight.

JD, welcome to the world of ComCan't/Won't! I think the name PammH used, (ComCrap — although misspelled), is the best yet, right up there with Sophia's BSPN.

I watched the show, and mostly enjoyed it. The Wendell Scott and Tim Richmond pieces alone were worth watching the whole thing. Some of the early Petty, (Lee & Richard), stuff was apparently from a story/documentary done a long time ago. I thought the focus on Earnhardt, Jr. and Hendrick was a little heavy on sentimentality, but didn't really detract from the overall quality of the presentation.

I also particularly enjoyed the Allisons stories. I would have liked to see more on Pearson, Junior Johnson, and the very early drivers, (Flocks, Turner, White, etc.), but there is only so much time. Maybe a three hour show would be possible with pieces from the cutting floor that didn't make it into this show. I expect there is enough additional footage, (digital images?), to do another whole show.

Overall, a very good, quality presentation. My neither of VCRs are working well right now, so I need to find a way to tape one of the re-airings. I do want to keep this one.

Very well done. Good stories. The interviews though seemed to be off on my tv. The lips moved but didn't really match up exactly. Some parts more apparent than others. Anyone else see this? Regardless a very good show. While they did spend more time on Richmond than any other segment, it was neat to see.

I will be watching it later on this afternoon and cannto wait to see it. The trailers I kept seeing while watching CMT yesterday afternoon made me want to see it. I will comment later on how I felt about the presentation of it and am glad that Tim Richmond is included. I really liked him because he could drive the hell out of the car and was not the typical NASCAR mouthpiece.

One thing I noticed was the passion that Bill Jr had for NASCAR. Far from that of the Emperor. Bill Jr even admitted that if NASCAR noticed things weren't right, they were fixed. Why did this attitude stop with him?

The Allison story was touching, losing both of their sons. I am so glad they got back together. And what a character Tim Richmond was. I wish I would have been watching racing in the 80s.

It STINKS when cable companies play "digital tier roulette". One lame station "Used to be digital" and is now basic and I am sure that has happened to others.

IF NASCAR wants to get more racing eyes, FOX/SPEED should SERIOUSLY lower their fees and put SPEED on basic. For the racing shows alone and WT, and TWIN, I guarantee that would help the sagging ratings and those that hate BSPN.

I missed the first part of this show but it had me in tears...D Allison story, Jr talking with Rick H...among others.

But I was GLUED to the tv with the Tim Richmond segment. NEVER EVER have I seen so many clips of him and wish they would show us more. I was not watching in those days and have just read websites and heard of him through others.

Quite the character and while I understand the IGNORANCE of AIDS back then and the scary aspects of it, it's a shame he has been such a secret part of NASCAR history and rarely mentioned during a broadcast.

Great show...should be on DVD so we can view without commercials. VERY poignant show, though....I suggest having some tissues handy.

I agree. The Davey Allison and Tim Richmond stories were AMAZING. This was really well done, wish they could have fit another 2 hours in it. So many stories to tell there just isnt enough time. I really liked the portraits they did, wish I could get my hands on copies of those.

I think you'll enjoy it and I look forward to your review. I had originally planned to watch the 1958 NFL Championship game on ESPN Saturday night, and tape CMT at the same time. I changed channels from ESPN to CMT during the first segment of the show, and never changed back. I'm glad I taped it, so I can watch again in a few days. It was a very well-done program and while I would have liked them to have gone in depth on a few more people, they did all they could do in a 2-hour format. If this is released on DVD in the future I'll buy it, and I'd like to thank NMG and CMT for producing this show. Also I hadn't seen it mentioned but Kevin Costner did a nice job narrating.

Caught it on my DVR because of this column's heads-up. Loved it. Wish they'd discussed how Nascar tried to force Richmond into blood tests before he passed away. Altogether, it was a good program. As someone else said, it'd be nice if they did more of them, covering the "older" crowd of drivers. This is the type of show I've been craving.

Thoroughly enjoyed it. Tim Richmond was a bit before I was a NASCAR fan, so I enjoyed learning more about him.

Also the Allison story was a real tear jerker for me, and of course, Dale sr.

Tracy, I also picked up in the Kyle and Richard interview that Kyle said "I love you", but Richard just shrugged it off -- I think that is a generational thing. Lots of older folks have problems showing their emotions, esp. in public.

Right now we are watching the Summer Shootout (from Lowe's) we had recorded from the 7th. I don't know why Speed doesn't televise this sooner in the year than 6 months later but it's nice to see something with racing in it. JD I think you would like satellite better than cable any day.